EX-CIA AGENT DECRIES IMAGE OF CLOAK-AND-DAGGER AGENCY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-01208R000100060038-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: February 1, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-01208R000100060038-6 STAT
RICHMOND NEWS LEADER
1 February 1982
By LEE GRAVES' stantly supported the Christian Democrats, the "indefen
David Atlee' Phillips didn't have any problem telling sible" period,, when President Nixon in 1970 sought to
his first four children he was working for the Central- _ prevent the inauguration of Salvador Allende; and the
Intelligence Agency: "correct" period, when Allende was* overthrown.
But when he broke the news to his 15-year-old daugh- "When (he) was overthrown in 1973, the prime movers
ter in 1975, her response 'was, "`But that's dirty! were Chileans," Phillips said.
"That, along with a lot of other things, got me on the While foreigners who work for U.S.. agents lead dan-
path,of leaving the CIA eight years early," said Phillips, gerous lives, American. intelligence- officers abroad
who spent 25 years as an intelligence officer. Now he is an aren't as. threatened; More of. a concern: is. the ethical
author and lecturer, and today at the Woman's Club he dilemma in the states.
-advocated a strong but responsibl? CIA. - "Even when you're stationed in the- U.S. you must
Public perception of the agency, he-in icated, is a real.. maintain that cover that's. necessary. for you to be effec-
., problem tive. abroad, indeed, if you are, to survive. , :., ..;
"It's true there are moments.- like. in James Bond, "It made me think about personal morality and ethics
sneaking around in dark alleys," he said d-uring?a tele- when I had to lie to my neighbors, lie-to my banker,:all
':phone interview from his lylaryland home. "But when that sort of thing," he said.
-.,young people ask me,. I tell` them: that, in my personal ."You have to live this double life: The whole family
opinion, the. symbol for intelligence work -should be.. has to go through it_" Alcoholism and.a high divorce rate
changed from a cloak and dagger to a typewriter and a among agents result from these' stresses, he said.
lot of 3-by-5.cards.. It's not always exciting and glam- Still? he, advocates a strong intelligence capability.,
orous. There; are dangers, he acknowledged, such as when do-
"MY.-`most'dangerous assignment was surviving the mestic civil rights are violated:"
traffic in Rio de4aneiro when I was assigned there," he "The danger is one-we have to accept for that gain we
quipped..
get from itr We all have the responsibility to see that it's:
Phillips' tour of duty spanned the terms of six presi done the right way, and it hasn't always been done the
dents and took him.throughout Latin America. 'Chile, right way in the. past. `.. .
Guatemala. Cuba, Santo Domingo, Brazil and Venezuela. He has helped form the Association of Former Intelli-
He served as chief of station in the latter two countries gence Officers, a 3,000-member organization, working for.
and was made .chief of Latin American and Caribbean- legislation to improve'the.CIA. For six years they have=
Operations in 1973. .been.trying to get a-law passed.-making it illegal for.,
The role of spy was one: he did not seek. Raised in former :agents to publicize the names of, officers
Texas; he went to New York seeking his fortune as a Striving to make the CIA more'responsible is helping
..-.playwright.. World War II intervened, and Phillips spent 'to?improve its image, Phillips said:he-negativism and:
part of the conflict in a German POW. camp. After. the outright hostility he once encountered on college campus--
war, he made enough money writing plays to buy a small es has been replaced by a spirit of dialogue and questions i
newspaper in Chile, where he was approached.in 1950 to about how to get a job in theservice. His next book gives
-.gather intelligence on a part-time basis. Four years later. advice on' preparing fora career, in" intelligence work
he was a full-time agent: To' illustrate- the need for-keeping`an eye on the other'
He has seen history in the making the.fall of the guy, he tells. the story. about two American tourists--whop.
Arbenz regime in Guatemala,- the : problems of Cuba visit a zoo in Moscow where a bear and a lamb are kept in;
under Batistat and Fidel Castro's rise to power. the same cage.. The. zookeeper explains. that this. illus-
He also was ' intimate with' developments in Chile, trates, peaceful coexistence is possible :;.
where the CIA suffered a black eye. That involvement, he : "He (the zookeeper) looks around to make sure he's{
"
"
said, can be viewed in three. stages: the-
debatable
not being overheard . and. says,- `Of. course, we have. to
period, lasting more than a decade, when the U.S. con- change the lamb every. day:"
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